Emily Ratajkowski has shared candid details about the birth of her son, revealing how she ‘labored on all fours’ at home and felt like her body was ‘cracking open’ from the ‘all-encompassing’ pain — before watching him emerge via a mirror positioned above her.
The 30-year-old and her husband, Sebastian Bear-McClard, welcomed their first child, Sylvester Apollo, on March 8, and in her upcoming book, ‘My Body,’ the supermodel recalls the moment her water broke and the intense contractions that followed.
She also revealed how afraid she was for the survival of both her baby and herself, but how she was ultimately amazed by the incredible thing her body accomplished.
Ouch! Emily Ratajkowski has shared candid details about the birth of her son, revealing how she felt like her body was ‘cracking open’ from the ‘all-encompassing’ pain
![Little one: The 30-year-old welcomed Sylvester Apollo on March 8](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/10/24/00/49555419-10124217-Social_media_star_Also_on_Saturday_the_author_took_some_time_to_-a-13_1635030650951.jpg)
Little one: The 30-year-old welcomed Sylvester Apollo on March 8
Time magazine has shared the excerpt from the new book, which will be released on November 9.
Emily shared details of the moment her water broke, near midnight on Sunday, March 7, six days before she was due.
‘The rush of warmth between my legs interrupted my sleep and I sat up straight in the bed. I threw the covers off to reveal a growing wet spot on the sheet,’ she recalled.
When she told Sebastian what had happened, he got their stuff ready to go to the hospital while she ‘labored on all fours’ in the bathroom, quickly overtaken by pain.
‘My body felt like it was cracking open,’ she wrote. ‘The pain was all-encompassing, rippling through my core and spreading to every corner of my being.
‘The contractions were coming without a break, and as one peaked, I felt gripped by sudden panic. I was desperate to make the pain stop, but I was trapped. I bit down, clenching my teeth.’
While it was certainly painful, the moment was also a fearful one, as Emily worried about whether she and the baby would make it through.
![Family: He was the first child for Emily and her husband, Sebastian Bear-McClard](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/10/26/18/49666451-10133151-image-a-84_1635268721619.jpg)
Family: He was the first child for Emily and her husband, Sebastian Bear-McClard
‘What would happen now to my baby and me?’ she wrote. ‘Our lives were on the line, but there was nothing I could do to ensure our safety. Our survival depended on the mysterious mechanisms of my body.’
![More soon: Ratajkowski details the birth in her book, My Body, out on November 9](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/10/26/18/49492065-10133151-Ratajkowski_s_book_My_Body_out_on_November_9_has_been_met_with_r-a-78_1635268122412.jpg)
More soon: Ratajkowski details the birth in her book, My Body, out on November 9
Emily tried to silence her mind, instead giving into her body.
‘I tried to fill my mind with blankness. I let the contraction consume me,’ she said.
After some time, she decided that she trusted her body, realizing that it was resiliant and had already done so much during pregnancy.
‘It had sheltered my growing son for nine months and kept his heart beating while his entire, complicated self developed inside me. Now it was opening up, right on schedule,’ she said.
The pain continued to be intense as she and Sebastian got to the hospital, and she described how she crawled through the lobby and ‘contorted against the elevator wall.’
‘I was inside my body, a machine that was tearing along viciously with no regard for anything or anyone,’ she wrote.
![Amazing: She also revealed how afraid she was for the survival of both her baby and herself, but how she was ultimately amazed by the incredible thing her body accomplished](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/10/26/18/49666129-10133151-image-a-73_1635267930359.jpg)
Amazing: She also revealed how afraid she was for the survival of both her baby and herself, but how she was ultimately amazed by the incredible thing her body accomplished
![All in: She said she asked for a mirror so that she could watch her son being born](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/10/26/18/49666091-10133151-d-m-76_1635268110862.jpg)
![All in: She said she asked for a mirror so that she could watch her son being born](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/10/26/18/48893573-10133151-The_next_generation_Emily_Ratajkowski_shared_more_photos_of_her_-a-77_1635268114047.jpg)
All in: She said she asked for a mirror so that she could watch her son being born
![Emily also admitted to being supersitious, and said that lately she has held onto the belief that keeping her son's name on her body — like on a piece of jewelry — will keep him healthy](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/10/07/19/48646429-10070047-Sweet_little_one_Here_Sylvester_had_on_a_pink_fluffy_cap_as_a_ba-m-56_1633631333539.jpg)
Emily also admitted to being supersitious, and said that lately she has held onto the belief that keeping her son’s name on her body — like on a piece of jewelry — will keep him healthy
She didn’t start pushing until after sunrise, and when active labor was underway, she asked for a mirror so she could see the birth and and ‘witness its progress.’ They hung one above her.
Emily said that as she pushed, she threw up, and felt stabbing pain through her pelvis and lower back.
Finally, in the mirror, she saw the top of her son’s head — and her own body, unrecognizable to herself.
‘In the mirror positioned above me, I no longer recognized my face: it was puffy and red and the veins at my temple were pronounced and throbbing,’ she wrote.
‘My body was swollen and raw and unfamiliar. Everything had transformed. My baby’s heartbeat crackled through the monitor.’
But it wasn’t over yet. Emily said that she heard a doctor consider getting a vacuum, remarking that the baby was too big and Emily was too small.
Luckily, she managed to push him out, and suddenly he was on her chest while she sat in a daze.
Emily also admitted to being superstitious, and said that lately she has held onto the belief that keeping her son’s name on her body — like on a piece of jewelry — will keep him healthy.
![Mom mode: She recently shared seveal new pictures with the seven-month-old](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/10/23/22/49555417-10124217-Mom_mode_The_images_showed_her_doting_on_her_small_child_Sylvest-a-11_1635026380716.jpg)
Mom mode: She recently shared seveal new pictures with the seven-month-old
![He's here: In her book, Emily shared details of the moment her water broke, near midnight on Sunday, March 7, six days before she was due](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/10/24/00/49555423-10124217-Fashion_forward_The_pictures_featured_the_fashionista_in_a_leopa-a-15_1635030651111.jpg)
He’s here: In her book, Emily shared details of the moment her water broke, near midnight on Sunday, March 7, six days before she was due
!['My body felt like it was cracking open,' she wrote. 'The pain was all-encompassing, rippling through my core and spreading to every corner of my being'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/10/24/00/49555425-10124217-Content_Sylvester_happily_sat_on_his_mom_s_hip_dressed_in_a_purp-a-14_1635030651027.jpg)
‘My body felt like it was cracking open,’ she wrote. ‘The pain was all-encompassing, rippling through my core and spreading to every corner of my being’
Emily has only shared a few photos of her son, and even blurred his face in an early photo in April.
But she has since warmed up to sharing snaps of the seven-month-old, and recently shared a series of them on Instagram.
But in June, Emily faced criticism from social media users after sharing a photo of herself carrying the then-three-month-old.
In a few of the snapshots, she held Sylvester to her chest with one arm while posing for the camera. The little boy’s head dipped to the side and his feet dangled.
One Twitter user shared a side-by-side photo of Emily carrying her child next to a snapshot of her carrying a dog, asking: ‘Why does she hold small helpless beings like a textbook?’
‘NO neck support lmfaooo wtf,’ one person wrote, while someone else added ‘And no butt support for the doggy lol.’
‘How can a mother hold her baby like that wtf,’ another critic asked.
Some users suggested she was holding her baby like an ‘accessory.’
![Um... In June, Emily faced criticism from social media users after sharing a photo of herself carrying the then-three-month-old](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/10/26/18/43933463-10133151-Mom_shaming_Emily_Ratajkowski_30_has_faced_backlash_online_over_-a-79_1635268412485.jpg)
Um… In June, Emily faced criticism from social media users after sharing a photo of herself carrying the then-three-month-old
![Some users suggested she was holding her baby like an 'accessory' and didn't give him proper neck support](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/10/26/18/43933449-10133151-Awkward_In_a_few_of_the_snapshots_she_is_holding_Sylvester_to_he-a-80_1635268427497.jpg)
Some users suggested she was holding her baby like an ‘accessory’ and didn’t give him proper neck support